People may watch a few amateur open-wheel series, such as Formula 1000. These cars compete in the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) FB series and have 1,000cc motorcycle engines. In the United States, the SCCA also organizes Formula 3 and Formula 4 events. Finally, karting involves racers driving ultra-light, very powerful, and specialized karts around short circuits.
You might want to seek elsewhere if you’re going to get into open-wheel racing. Karting is the only cheap form of open-wheel racing, and it is where the bulk of professional drivers begin their careers. F1 and IndyCar drivers are among the greatest globally, yet the majority of them started their careers in karting as children. In addition, sponsorships worth hundreds of millions of dollars are required to compete in F1 and IndyCar. Even the best drivers in the world risk losing their positions if they do not bring enough cash to the table.
Automobile de Sport
In terms of popularity, sports car racing is a close second to open-wheel racing. Because most manufacturers compete at the GT (Grand Touring) category with vehicles that look a lot like their high-performance supercars, this series is perhaps the one with the most identifiable cars. This series features race vehicles such as the Lamborghini Huracan, Ferrari 488, Chevrolet Corvette, Nissan GT-R, and Porsche 911. The prototype class, which features non-production race vehicles with distinctive bodywork, high-performance engines, and outlandish designs, is also part of this series.
Races in this series can take anywhere from 2.5 to 24 hours. The 24 Hours of Daytona, the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans are among the most famous 24-hour events in the world. These races do, in fact, last 24 hours and are a rigorous test for both man and machine.
Sports car racing is governed by sanctioned organizations such as the Automobile Club de L’Ouest (ACO) and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). In the next part, we’ll utilize the ACO’s class breakdowns to show how ultra-fast prototype cars interact with GT vehicles on the circuit.
LMGTE PRO and LMGTE AM are the two classifications of racing vehicles in the GT class. The LMGTE PRO series has professional drivers, but the LMGTE AM racing vehicles are driven by amateur racers, as their names imply. LMP1 and LMP2 are the two divisions for the prototype class. LMP1 cars are hybrids and non-electric racing cars, while LMP2 cars have Gibson 4.2-liter V8 engines and are somewhat heavier. Pirates can also compete in the LMP2 class, although the LMP1 category is reserved for professional drivers and manufacturers. The AOC will change in 2024 when GT3 racing vehicles replace the present LMGTE race cars.
The SCCA offers two prototypes and one GT class for amateur racers; therefore, the classifications slightly differ. The P1 and P2 prototype classes accept a wide range of vehicle designs, while the GT class takes modified “silhouette” reproductions of series-produced sports automobiles.
Touring Vehicle
Touring car racing is, unfortunately, most popular in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Australia. The race vehicles in this series are substantially modified road-going production automobiles. Unlike the other race cars on this list, nothing distinguishes the cars, resulting in intense competition among drivers.
The Touring Car series includes races ranging from sprints (short distances) to endurances (long distances) (three hours or more). Supercars Championship (SC), World Touring Car Cup (WTCC), British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), and Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters are just a few of the Touring Car series to watch (DTM).
Several companies compete with comparable vehicles in several Touring Car championships. The race vehicles may have varying performance and aerodynamic needs because each series has its own rules. For the most part, Touring cars produce around 600 horsepower and have a similar general design to their road-going counterparts.